Thursday's Pre-Publication Post: E-books, Or When Seeing Your Work In Print Is Only Part of the Story

For a long time, the dream was relatively simple. And focused. It involved seeing my story collection, Quiet Americans, in print. As in: a book. With pages one could turn.

But, as you may have heard, there's a new kid on the publishing block: the e-book. Actually, he's not just one kid. He's got multiple platforms.

If I haven't been linking here on Practicing Writing to lots of articles about e-books--how to publish them, how to read them, how popular they're becoming--maybe a little bit of that is due to my not-so-subconscious desire not to have to deal with them insofar as my own work is concerned.

You see, I already have a full-time job, and getting my story collection into print has quickly become almost equally consuming. Getting the collection ready for e-publication that is far more sophisticated than the simple downloadable pdfs used for my old market directories seems to be one layer of responsibility too many.

But it will happen. My publisher seems to be pretty comfortable with the Kindle platform, so that may well be the first vehicle we turn to for Quiet Americans once the print version is complete. (In fact, literally just yesterday, my publisher blogged about the recent royalty-related developments affecting books published via Amazon/Kindle.)

But how many of you rely on the Kindle? How many use other systems?

And for those of you with experience transforming your words from docs on your screen to paid-for content on others': How did you do it? Let's leave aside those of you working with big publishers who can easily handle the task for you. Have you used Smashwords? Have you required the services of a freelancer to format and prepare your text? What do you wish you'd known then that you can share now? I'd love to learn from your experiences.

The Wednesday Web Browser

Back when I was helping newbie book reviewers build up a reviewing practice, we'd spend a chunk of time discussing how to obtain review copies. A recent "tweet" from Algonquin Books makes the process simple: "Book bloggers: If you ever want to request an Algonquin review copy, email me: michael(at)algonquin(dot)com. Easy peasy." Meantime, Harper Perennial is inviting book bloggers to join its email list for reviewers.
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This week on the Dollars and Deadlines blog: veteran freelancer Kelly James-Enger critiques queries. Really interesting and useful.
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It hasn't been a terribly uplifting time in the litmag world lately: Mississippi Review's future is unclear. Brevity considers charging a submission fee. And The Paris Review has begun "unaccepting" some poems.
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My friend Deonne Kahler (a.k.a. "DK") just spent a week at the Taos Summer Writers Conference (an event I've also been lucky enough to attend). DK got to work with Sarah Manguso in a memoir master class. And she was generous enough to tell the rest of us about it here and here.
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I love this guest post by Diane Lockward (on Meg Waite Clayton's 1st Books blog) about her (Diane's) evolution toward published-poethood.

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

From Vagabondage Press: "We are currently open to submissions of novella length fiction for stand-alone publication in digital form, with possible consideration for print publication. Vagabondage Press accepts queries all year round for novella and novel length work and only accepts queries by email. We are currently seeking well-written literary fiction of 15,000 to 50,000 words that explores the human experience. We hope to provide a safe space for authors who've gone underappreciated because the industry has led them to believe that they don't fit a particular format. We hold no editorial bias in regards to stories for or about individuals of any race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or planet of origin." Pays: royalties.
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From Creative Nonfiction: "Creative Nonfiction is looking for new work by MFA students for publication in an upcoming issue. The winner and four finalists will be invited to read during the 2011 AWP Conference in Washington, DC (February 2-5, 2011)." CNF "typically" pays $10/printed page. Deadline: November 5, 2010.
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Guidelines for the annual Helen Schaible International Shakespearean/Petrarchan Sonnet Contest are now available. Prizes: $50/$35/$15. No entry fee. Deadline: September 1, 2010.
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Attention, freelancers: WritersWeekly.com ran an article on paying education markets last week. (Kind of reminded me of another article on the same topic that ran once upon a time.)
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From mediabistro.com (click here to access complete announcement):"mb LEARN is looking for a dynamic, spirited instructor to teach our Intro to Social Media class in New York starting in September. This class meets for 4 weeks and will teach students how to use social media tools to expand and improve their professional life. Topics include social media and web 2.0, blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds, viral video, social bookmarking, social media news releases, and other emerging web technologies. By the end of class, students will have an established presence on one or more social networks, expanded exposure on existing networks, and a solid understanding of how to best use social media."
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Gettysburg College (Pa.) seeks an Assistant Director of Communications, Wesleyan University (Conn.) is looking for an Editor/New Media Writer, and Stanford University's Graduate School of Business (Calif.) is looking for a Philanthropy Case Writer (one-year appointment).

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

The Birdsong Micropress Winter 2010 Poetry & Prose Contest will award prizes (one in each category) of $50, publication in Birdsong #14, 10 complimentary copies of the zine, and a featured spot in the organization's Brooklyn reading series in mid-December. Submit by October 10, 2010. No entry fee. (via Poets & Writers)
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New policies for unsolicited submissions to Tin House Books and Tin House magazine have been announced. I've posted the text of the press release here.
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NoTreeBooks invites submissions of dialogue-driven short stories for three themed e-anthologies: (1) vampires, ghosts, zombies, and other "creature stories"; (2) contemporary cowboy romance stories; and (3) "sleeping with exes," stories "about couples who break up but still have a relationship." There are lots of details available at the website. Submissions are open until all anthologies are filled. Pays: $50-$100 to each anthology contributor-author, on publication, plus possible royalties.
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Graphic fiction competition for those living in the U.K./Republic of Ireland: The Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize will award a first prize of £1,000 and publication in The Observer Review. The runner-up will receive £250, with publication on www.guardian.co.uk and the Vintage website. There is no entry fee. Deadline: October 6, 2010.
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Pilot Books Micro-Residencies (Summer 2010): "Introducing an experimental micro-residency program for writers who want to work and write chez Pilot Books. Each receives a stipend, access to brainfulls of reading material, and hours of writing time punctuated by light literary conversation and the occasional sales transaction. Pilot Books will then publish the author-resident’s new poetry, prose, fiction, or comics in a limited edition chapbook series, 'FINANCIALS.' One-day ($80) and two-day ($160) residencies are available: July 2, July 4, July 10-11, July 18, July 24-25, August 7-8, August 21-22, August 28, September 4-5." For more details/application info, visit HTMLGIANT. No application fee. Apply fast!
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Saint Louis University (Mo.) seeks a Writer, Columbia Business School (N.Y.) is looking for a Writer, and the Stanford School of Education seeks a Writer/PR Director (see job #38382).

This Just In: Tin House Launches Buy A Book, Save A Bookstore

Just received this press release from Tin House Books (keep reading--there's relevance for the magazine, too).

PORTLAND, OREGON (JUNE 30, 2010) ⎯ In the spirit of discovering new talent as well as supporting established authors and the bookstores who support them, Tin House Books will accept unsolicited manuscripts dated between August 1 and November 30, 2010, as long as each submission is accompanied by a receipt for a book from a bookstore. Tin House magazine will require the same for unsolicited submissions sent between September 1 and December 30, 2010.

Writers who cannot afford to buy a book or cannot get to an actual bookstore are encouraged to explain why in haiku or one sentence (100 words or fewer). Tin House Books and Tin House magazine will consider the purchase of e-books as a substitute only if the writer explains: why he or she cannot go to his or her neighborhood bookstore, why he or she prefers digital reads, what device, and why.

Writers are invited to videotape, film, paint, photograph, animate, twitter, or memorialize in any way (that is logical and/or decipherable) the process of stepping into a bookstore and buying a book to send along for our possible amusement and/or use on our Web site.

Tin House Books will not accept electronic submissions. Tin House magazine will accept manuscripts by mail or digitally. The magazine will accept scans of bookstore receipts.

ALL MANUSCRIPTS WITHOUT RECEIPT OR EXPLANATION
WILL BE RETURNED UNREAD IN SASE.

Please send manuscripts to

Save a Book
Tin House Books
2617 NW Thurman St.
Portland OR 97210

Save a Book
Tin House Magazine
P.O. Box 10500
Portland, OR 97210

Friday Find: The Library of America's Story of the Week

Want to download some free reading for the weekend? Consider "Business Deal," a fairly brief short story by Nathanael West (1903-40) set in a bygone era of screenwriting and movie-making, which the Library of America has made available from Nathanael West: Novels and Other Writings.

Or check out any of the other offerings in the Library of America's Story of the Week site/archive.

(For more background on the West story, check Carolyn Kellogg's Jacket Copy post, through which I discovered this find and the accompanying archive.)

Have a great weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.

Thursday's Pre-Publication Post: Torn Between Two Covers

This week's major pre-publication development is this: Over the Memorial Day holiday, I e-mailed the wonderful cover designer who has been drafting designs for the Quiet Americans cover, and I told him that I'd chosen a design to go with.

In the end, I'd narrowed the options to two designs. I can't show them to you (truly, I can't--I don't have them in a format I can upload to the blog without some serious interventions). But I can tell you that they present two very different images. Opposite images, in fact. So I was, indeed, "torn between two covers."

It's a real relief to have put an end to the indecision. (The cover designer congratulated me on this victory!) Now we just have some tweaking to do (I've asked for some additional options for the byline font, for instance). Then, at least, the front cover will be done. Not all the info is yet available to complete the spine and back.

Speaking of covers...Last Light Studio, my book's publisher, has recently launched a blog. And about two weeks ago, that blog featured a post about the cover design process behind the company's first release: Armand Inezian's Bringing Ararat (which is now available!). Check it out!

Thursday's Pre-Publication Post: Permissions Update

So, back in April I told you about my quest to procure permission to use certain words penned in a book that was released by a Big Publishing House, because I want to use these words as an epigraph to my forthcoming story collection, Quiet Americans. Then, last week, I mentioned how incredibly helpful it was for me to simply pick up the phone after weeks of apparent non-response to check in on the process. (Apparently, not all of my e-mails had made it through.)

All of which led to my receipt of a hard-copy agreement a few days ago. The good news: The fee the Big Publishing House is requiring is manageable, if exponentially more than anything I've ever earned per word. There are seven words in this particular excerpt--two sentences and seven words.

But (you knew this was coming, right?) here's the not-so-good news: I neglected to realize that my request would cover only the print format of the book. So on Monday, I had to bother my very kind and patient contact at the Big Publishing House to ask for an amendment to cover an electronic version, too. I believe that a revised agreement is on the way. In fact, I was hoping it might have arrived yesterday, in time for me to write this post.

Alas, I'm still waiting. Which means I'm waiting to see how much more they're going to charge me. Double? Less than double? How much less? What's your guess?

The Wednesday Web Browser

HTMLGIANT brings us an interview with poet/translator/publisher Lawrence Schimel, whose Fairy Tales for Writers we mentioned here way back in 2007.
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Next, the Huffington Post presents the provocatively-titled "Iowa Writers' Workshop Graduate Spills It All: Interview with John McNally, Author of 'After the Workshop.'" (via the Poetry Foundation)
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Then, The Days of Yore website, which "interviews artists about the years before they had money, fame, or road maps to success, and inspires you to find your own," turns its attention to author Gary Shteyngart. (via the Jewish Book Council).
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In other-than-interview news, big congrats to Jane Roper, who has just signed a book deal with St. Martin's Press for a memoir loosely based on her Babble.com blog about mothering young twins. This will be Jane's second book--her first, a novel titled Eden Lake, will be published by Last Light Studio next spring (shortly after the release of Quiet Americans, by yours truly!). I'm so happy for Jane, and I know that both of her books will be well worth your attention.

Quotation of the Week: Various Journal/Magazine Editors

"I'm sorry."

Such was the response of pretty much every editor who addressed an audience member's question/complaint about slow submission response times during the panel on "The State of the Essay in the Publishing Marketplace" at Welcome Table Press' inaugural symposium, "In Praise of the Essay: Practice & Form," which took place here in NYC last Saturday. (Whew! That is one long sentence I just wrote!)

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

Tin House has announced the theme for its Spring 2011 issue: The Mysterious. (What's a bit mysterious to me is the fact that a deadline of September 30 is listed; since Tin House is not open to unsolicited submissions between May 31 and September 1, I'm inferring that you can submit work for this issue EITHER before May 31 OR during September.) "We realize that it is spookily far in advance, but we wanted to get a jump on reading stories, poems, and essays about the unknown and the unknowable, from quantum physics to what lies in the depths of the soul, from unexplainable phenomenon to interpersonal mysteries." Note also that "our summer and winter issues are not themed, and Tin House considers submissions for all upcoming issues regardless of theme." See the guidelines for more info.
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New Young Translators' Prize: "In honour of Harvill Secker’s centenary in 2010, celebrating 100 years of publishing quality international writing, Harvill Secker and Waterstone’s have teamed up to recognise the achievements of young translators at the start of their careers. This is an annual prize, which will focus on a different language each year. To tie in with Argentina’s role as guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the inaugural prize will centre on Argentinian writer Matías Néspolo’s short story ‘El hachazo’." The prize is open to translators between the ages of 16 and 34. There will be a £1,000 prize, and there is no entry fee. Deadline: July 31, 2010. (via Publishers Weekly)
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Anthology to be titled Appalachian Folklore: Dark Tales of Superstition and Old Wives' Tales seeks stories up to 2,500 words. Deadline: September 1, 2010. Pays: $.03/word plus one copy. Check the guidelines to learn more (via Duotrope)
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A few paid internship listings: Yakima Herald-Republic (Wash.), the Chronicle of Higher Education (D.C.), and the Center for Ecoliteracy (telecommuting and Berkeley, Calif.).
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Oklahoma State University is looking for a Visiting Professor in Poetry. "One year appointment or two one-semester appointments, rank open, beginning August 2010. MFA or Ph.D. in Creative Writing with significant poetry publications and teaching experience required. Teaching 2 workshops per semester. Salary competitive."
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F+W Media seeks a "results-driven manager to serve as Managing Editor for F+W Media's Writer's Digest brand, responsible for managing the editorial staff, allocating resources across projects as needed, and ensuring all book-related products (whether print or online based) get done on time at an acceptable quality level. Work with designers, production dept., and marketing staff as quality control from contract signing to the printer. Make sure that the finished products are what the company intended."
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Duke University Libraries (N.C.) is looking for a Director of Communications, Suffolk University (Mass.) seeks a Senior Writer/Editor, and the University of Notre Dame (Ind.) is looking for both a Senior Writer/Editor and a Web Content Editor.
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Coming soon! The next issue of our monthly newsletter, The Practicing Writer. Should go out by week's end. Don't miss it!

Thursday's Pre-Publication Post: Permissions, Continued

So, last week I told you about my initial foray into the world of permissions. I'm glad to tell you that there's already an update to share.

Briefly: I have, indeed, heard back from the Big Publishing House I mentioned last Thursday. They e-mailed me with a request for further information. And here's what they asked for:

--the page number in the book where the excerpt appears
--anticipated number of book copies to be published
--whether the book is a trade volume, a textbook, or a scholarly work
--estimated price of the book
--the book's market (U.S., Canada, worldwide)
--whether the book will be published in hardcover or paperback (or both)
--scheduled date of publication
--daytime phone number
--desired term of license

After some consultation with my publisher, I sent off an e-mail with the replies. Now it's back to waiting. I really hope the Big Publishing House comes back with something generous (or at least, reasonable). Think good thoughts for me, please!

Thursday's Pre-Publication Post: Permissions

My story collection, Quiet Americans, begins with two quotations (epigraphs) leading into the larger work. I've always wondered if I'd need permission to use them, but until recently, I didn't have a particularly urgent reason to find out.

Well, now that my book is slated for publication, a reason has arrived! The press that will be publishing my book is too small to have a full-fledged legal department of its own, so my first impulse was to send an e-mail message to a group of lawyer friends. But I soon decided that I should just keep digging on my own. Directly.

Both of the quotations are quite short. One is taken from a translated novel; the other, from a translated Nobel lecture.

A few days ago, I contacted the U.S. publisher of the translated novel (a publishing company which is big enough not only to have its permissions/rights department referenced on its site, but which also requires several weeks to process these requests). So, I wait.

For the Nobel lecture, I simply e-mailed the specified contact in Sweden and explained that I was writing to find out what I needed to do in order to include the line from the lecture as an epigraph for my collection. The response was swift and sweet: "You do not need our formal permission to make quotations."

Wonderful! Let's hope that the other response arrives soon and proves to be equally uncomplicated.

I'd love to hear from other practicing writers with permissions tales to tell. Or perhaps some tips or resources to share?

Breaking (Big) News About My Story Collection

The news appeared in this week's Grub Street Rag, so I guess that makes it official!

My story collection, Quiet Americans, will be published by Last Light Studio Books in January 2011.

I'll have a lot more to say about this in the coming months. And I know that I'll be counting on all of you for advice along the way as I prepare for this manuscript to meet the world. Meantime, I just wanted to share the news!

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

"We're having an open house on WriterMag.com from March 19-26, and we hope you'll stop by to take a look around! Everything on the Web site will be open for anyone to view. During our open house, you can:

• Search through the market listings
• Read subscriber-only articles
• Review our regular Web columns: Web Savvy, Writing Q&A, Watch Your Language, Writing for Children
• Look through the forums and read the what our members are talking about
• Investigate any other feature on the site"

Check it out, folks! (Full disclosure: As it says right on over there on the sidebar, I am a contributing editor at The Writer.)
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There's still time to enter the Commonwealth Foundation's 2010 Short Story Competition. First prize of £2,000 and regional prizes of £500, "plus special prizes for the best children's story and the best story concerning 'Science, Technology and Society,' the Commonwealth Day theme for 2010." Open to anyone 19 years of age or over who is a citizen of a Commonwealth country. Previously unpublished stories should be no more than 600 words long; winning stories will be recorded and broadcast on radio. Deadline: March 31, 2010 (received). No entry fee.
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And speaking of the Commonwealth...here's an amazing opportunity for published writers based in Scotland: the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. This fellowship provides, for up to three writers per year, "accommodation for a maximum of six weeks in 2010 in a self-catering studio apartment at the Hotel Chevillon International Arts Centre at Grez-sur-Loing, on the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau in France, where Robert Louis Stevenson met his future wife, Fanny Osbourne, in 1876. Travel and accommodation is paid for and there is a grant of £300 per week to cover living expenses." No application fee. Deadline: April 9, 2010.
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Applications for the Writers' Dojo Writer-in-Residency program at Sitka Center (Ore.) are similarly due by April 9, 2010. There is no application fee. Three residency slots are available from October 2010-January 2011. For details about the residency and its community service component, plus the online application, click here.
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Researching "small" presses to find homes for your work? You may appreciate this Poets & Writers database.
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New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies is accepting applications for part-time writing faculty (for openings in spring and summer 2011).
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The Princeton University Art Museum (N.J.) seeks an Associate Editor/Interpretive Manager, the University of Houston-Clear Lake is looking for a Senior Coordinator for Publications, and the Harvard School of Public Health (Mass.) seeks a Part-Time Development Writer.

Book Promotion Offers To "Tear Down The Walls" of the Publishing Industry

A few days ago, I turned in my latest review assignment for The Writer: a piece on Stephen Markley's Publish This Book: The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold, and Published This Very Book (Sourcebooks, 2010). You'll have to wait a bit for the review to appear in the magazine, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share with you an interesting promotion I discovered on the Sourcebooks site when I was double-checking some information:

So you work on your manuscript for months, carefully craft a proposal and pitch letter, and send out your heart and soul to agents and publishers. And what do you get in return? A form letter saying “Thank you for your submission, but it does not meet our needs at this time.” Really?

We at Sourcebooks and Julie A. Hill and Associates know how you feel. Well, now we know, thanks to Stephen Markley and his hilarious, innovative, and amazing new memoir Publish This Book. You see, sick of getting rejections that say nothing, Stephen decided to cut to the chase and write a memoir about how hard it is to get a book published. And then try to get that book published—a book about its own creation.

Crazy, right? Well, he convinced us, getting agent representation from Julie Hill of Julie A. Hill and Associates and finally publication by Sourcebooks. And after reading his whole manuscript, we see how hard it is for you out there. So in honor of Stephen’s achievement, and all aspiring writers, we’ve decided to tear down the walls that keep writers from honest and helpful feedback about their work from the publishing industry. That means: no more form letters, but an actual critique of your submission from an agent or publishing company

How Does It Work?

1. Purchase a copy of Publish This Book.
2. Between March 9, 2010 and May 9, 2010 submit your proposal along with a proof of purchase (receipt, order confirmation, etc.) via the form below or by email.
3. Wait 2-6 months (While you’re waiting, why not read your new copy of Publish This Book? It’s amazing.)
4. Receive a 2-4 paragraph critique of your submission.

I know--you still have to buy the book, which contradicts the no-fee opportunity policy I normally follow here and in the newsletter. And in an ideal world, you'd get to read my review before deciding to buy the book. But it's something to look into. And it's a clever promotional idea that might inspire some others.

News About Some Published Practicing Writers

I love drafting posts with the express purpose of congratulating practicing writers on their publication successes. Today, we're celebrating Lori Ann Bloomfield and Alison Ashley Formento.

Lori's novel, The Last River Child, was recently published by Second Story Press. Lori was kind enough to send me an e-mail with this note: "Way back in July 2008 you posted that Second Story...was looking for fiction manuscripts. I had just finished writing my first novel, so sent it off to them. Well, they bought the manuscript! It came out in Canada last fall and is being released in the US this month. I've been wanting to share my happy story with you for a while and to thank you for your part in my success story. Please encourage your readers to keep writing and to keep submitting!" Lori, I think you've just encouraged them! (By the way, Lori is also the power behind a "First Line" blog, which provides fiction writers with some inspiration. And for those of you on Goodreads, Lori is hosting a book giveaway there this month. Now I may have to join yet another social networking site!)

Alison Formento's children's picture book, This Tree Counts!, was published earlier this month by Albert Whitman & Company. Alison and illustrator Sarah Snow have done an outstanding job with this book. How do I know this? Alison apparently reads Practicing Writing attentively enough to know that I have a young niece and nephew, and she very graciously offered to send a copy to share with them. Some of you may know that my niece is developing into a very picky reader (you can't begin to know how much this bothers me), but both she and her little brother were fully caught up in Alison's story when Grandma read it to them for the first time the other day. I can't come up with a better "review" than that.

I thank both Alison and Lori for sharing the news of their successes so generously with me. Let's give them a big round of virtual applause, shall we?

An Interview with Memoirist Melissa Hart

Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood: An Interview with Melissa Hart

Interview by Erika Dreifus

Melissa Hart is the author, most recently, of the memoir Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood (Seal, 2009). She teaches journalism at the University of Oregon and memoir writing for U.C. Berkeley's online extension program. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Advocate, High Country News, Orion, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Writer's Digest. She lives in Oregon with her husband, their young daughter, and too many cats and dogs.

Melissa is ALSO, like yours truly, a contributing editor for The Writer magazine. (I always enjoy her "Literary Spotlight" columns profiling individual literary journals.) I am thrilled to present this Q&A with Melissa here.

Please welcome Melissa Hart.

Erika Dreifus (ED): Melissa, Gringa is your second memoir. Can you please describe the connections between the two books, as well as what motivated you to write Gringa specifically?

Melissa Hart (MH): I wrote my first memoir, The Assault of Laughter (Windstorm, 2005) as my Master of Fine Arts thesis at Goddard College. Inspired by teachers Jacqueline Woodson and Mariana Romo-Carmona, I wanted to tell the story of the first year in my life after my mother came out as a lesbian and lost custody of me and my two younger siblings. This was 1979; throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, women who came out routinely lost custody of their children to homophobic court systems. I thought it was critical that my story, as representative of many, come to light.

But . . . I was a young writer, and I felt that I could tell the story more skillfully a decade later. I wanted to explore the idea of growing up Anglo, heterosexual, and seemingly devoid of identity in multicultural Los Angeles with a lesbian mom, a brother with Down syndrome, and a deep desire to be a Latina. I expanded the year in Assault to include all the years of my adolescence, from the day my mother left my father to my post-college graduation trip with her to Spain. I'm indebted to Seal's senior editor Brooke Warner for helping me to shape the memoir as a coming-of-age story and a history of my mother's and my relationship, which prevailed in spite of homophobia on the part of both the legal system and my father.

ED: Both of your memoirs reveal a great deal about your family members. How have they reacted to your writing about and publishing your collective stories? How have their reactions affected your writing processes?

MH: My father and I have been estranged for almost two decades. My stepmother and I e-mail occasionally, and she felt that Assault, in particular, gave her insight into our troubled relationship. My mother is a writer, as well, and she's incredibly supportive of my work. She accompanied me on part of the book tour for Gringa. It's worth noting that she asked me not to write about a few elements of our story, and I honored that. My sister is also deeply supportive; she's told all her friends about the book and helped to organize a reading/signing event in her hometown. My brother has Down syndrome, and he doesn't read, but he does enjoy telling and retelling stories about how my sister and I used to dress him up like a girl.

ED: Food plays an important part in Gringa, and each chapter ends with an unconventionally-presented "recipe." How did the idea to include these recipes develop?

MH: I fell in love with recipes in the context of prose stories when I discovered Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate. I loved how her recipes reflected the characters' motivations and relationships. Then I came across Ruth Reichl's books, and then Diana Abu-Jaber's marvelous The Language of Baklava. Both authors incorporate recipes into their memoir, and I had these wonderful goofy recipes such as Frito Boats and my mother's Tortilla Flats which were so important to me as a child. I took so much comfort in food as an adolescent--still do, in fact--and I wanted to offer up some of these recipes to readers as one more way to illustrate key themes and plot points in the book. Food also became a symbol of culture, or lack thereof, when I was an adolescent. I adored my boyfriend's mother's authentic Mexican dishes, for example, and being able to make a savory salsa or a dozen tamales became my benchmark of acceptance into his culture.

ED: What was the biggest challenge you faced in writing Gringa?

MH: The biggest challenge I faced in writing Gringa was not knowing quite what the book wanted to be. Initially, it looked like a series of linked essays that were all over the place in content and theme. My agent at the time, Michelle Andelman, reined me in and noted with great insight that the memoir format might work better as a method of telling the story. In Gringa's next incarnation, I included several chapters between "O Christmas Tree" and "Citizens of the World"--chapters which explored further my problematic relationship with my boyfriend--but my editor felt that they disrupted the coming-of-age trajectory of the story. I cut five chapters and wrote five new ones in a two-month period. I'm a really slow writer, so getting these out and polished on a tight deadline was challenging.

Creating the book trailer for Gringa was also extremely challenging. Last summer, a colleague at the journalism school taught me FinalCut Pro and I became writer, director, food stylist, chef, actress and cat wrangler for this rather goofy trailer.

ED: How did Gringa find its home with Seal Press?

MH: Michelle Andelman shopped the book around to a few publishers, and we felt a particular affinity for Seal and for Brooke, in particular. Seal Press publishes exciting books on unexpected topics related to women, and Brooke enjoyed the humorous social commentary that informs so much of the book. I'm so happy to have worked with Seal; this is a dynamic publishing house with a professional and devoted staff.

ED: What else would you like to tell us?

MH: I teach a memoir writing course for U.C. Berkeley's online extension program which is open to all. I post my upcoming workshops pretty regularly on both my website and my Facebook fan page. I love teaching and working with other writers; I come away inspired and excited to sit down at my computer.

Thank you so much, Melissa!

A version of this interview appeared in the March 2010 issue of The Practicing Writer.

What Does "Submission-Ready" Mean to You?

"Working on a story. Am determined to get it submission-ready!"

So read a post I "tweeted" on Monday. Lo and behold, somebody actually read what I wrote. And she wrote, in turn:

"@erikadreifus what does submission-ready mean to you?"

What an excellent question. Not just for me, but for all of us practicing writers.

My response on Twitter basically said that I couldn't possibly address the question in 140 characters. I promised to do so here, instead.

So here's what I think "submission-ready" means to me: I think it means that I've brought the work in question to a point where I can't envision further edits/changes/improvements. At least, not imminently. And I believe that an editor/agent/publisher will read past the first few lines/pages and take the work seriously.

Now, it does happen that I submit a story or essay or poem (or novel or short story collection), receive a series of rejections (the best ones provide some constructive comments/feedback), and am then prompted to revisit the work. I might ask others who haven't yet shared their time and insights to read and comment, too. Although I won't necessarily withdraw the work from any journal/contest/agent/publisher where it might still be waiting to be read/decided on, I'll refrain from submitting it anywhere else until I've had time to consider changes and, more often than not, revise further. In this sense, "submission-ready" is not a constant. It evolves. Because, unfortunately, what I might consider initially "submission-ready" may not necessarily be "acceptance-ready"! In fact, the story that sparked my tweet is one I believed "submission-ready" quite awhile ago, but am revising once again.

I'm eager to hear from others on this. What does "submission-ready" mean to you?

The Wednesday Web Browser

I knew I was truly starting to recover from my flu bug this weekend when I was able to read a full article in the New York Times Sunday magazine: "James Patterson Inc.", a COVER story on the author and his writing/publishing empire.
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Something that unfortunately got past me in the days before the Tamiflu worked its magic was a new "Indy Press Friday" initiative on Twitter. The point is to promote titles by small/indy presses via tweets with an #ipf hashtag. See Galleycat for more. (This week, I'll be prepared! How about you?)
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On the Poet Hound blog: useful tips on requesting a review of your book. (Many thanks to Diane Lockward for highlighting this in her recent roundup post titled "Some Cool Stuff," in which yours truly is also mentioned!)